But with about five laps remaining, Johnson told his crew: “The motor is laying down. … Got to be kidding me.”

Johnson’s engine blew—his second in two days and the fourth for Hendrick Motorsports for the weekend—and Biffle outlasted Brad Keselowski for the victory.

What we learned Sunday at Michigan International Speedway:

Hendrick teams not bulletproof

Engine builders were worried before the race. Because of the track being repaved over the winter, drivers are on the gas much longer because there is enough grip in the new asphalt that they don’t have to lift as much to get through the turns.

That means more sustained RPMs, which is not good for engines.

But that Hendrick Motorsports had such a problem was surprising for an organization that rarely has mechanical issues.

Broken valve springs foiled Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who also runs Hendrick engines, sending them behind the wall and eventually out of the race.

Johnson’s problem appeared to be more immediately terminal.

“There’s thousands of components in that engine that can go wrong,” Gordon said. “We have the best in the business that put ours together. We’re always concerned about the valve springs, especially here at Michigan.

They won’t have much time to figure it out. In two weeks, the race in Atlanta likely will require a similar engine package and take a similar toll.

“One doesn’t really bother you—that’s part of racing,” Earnhardt crew chief Steve Letarte said. “When (Gordon) had their issue, the concern went up. There’s not much you can do.

“I was disappointed for the motor guys. … I pick on the motor guys because most of the time I say, ‘It’s good to be a motor guy.’ Not at Michigan. I’d rather be a chassis guy.”

Roush still has it at MIS

Team owner Jack Roush won his record 12th Cup race at Michigan, but he won for the first time since 2008 at the two-mile oval.

The track is about an hour from Roush Industries, based in the Detroit suburb of Livonia.

“You have to suffer through the rough times to be able to enjoy the good times,” Roush said.

Biffle finally won at a track where he had led 258 laps in the previous four races. He led only 26 on Sunday, but that was good enough for his second win this season and to put him back atop the series standings.

While the previous near misses gave him hope, his motivation primarily came from a week earlier at Watkins Glen, where Biffle left one point behind Johnson.

“I gave up two positions on the last lap at Watkins Glen (last week) and handed the points lead to the 48 car (of Johnson),” Biffle said.

“That went under the radar. Nobody said a word about it. Nobody mentioned it. Nobody even knew about it except for me because I was driving the car. … I pay attention to what we need to do as a team, not make mistakes, do what it's going to take to win this championship.”

Wins hard to come by for wild-card contenders

It’s been widely assumed that someone will have to win a second race to join Kahne—who has two wins—in earning NASCAR’s two wild-card berths.

But with only three races left before the Chase field is set, maybe a driver can sneak in with just one win.

It might be considered backing into the Chase, and Ryan Newman said Friday that he wasn’t counting on making it by just running in the top-five.

But Newman finished eighth Sunday to hold on to the second wild-card spot, which goes to the two drivers 11th-20th in the standings with the most wins.

Kahne, in 11th, has two wins and appears to be in the Chase.

Edwards is 12th, nine points ahead of Newman, but has not won a race. Newman, who has one win, is 13th.